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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bass — low music
  6. bass — the fish
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. cold — an illness
  10. kid — child
  11. cold — not warm
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. dip — to sink
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. clip — for paper
  16. mark — a grade
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mark — a trace
  19. clip — a video
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. deal — to handle
  24. mark — to pay attention

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com